Together Again
by yllom21
Summary: When Doom is disbanded, Valon decides to move back to Australia. But when he finds out what his other two comrades have been doing, he decides they would be better of together, than alone. (One-Shot)


Together Again

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh

Destiny is cruel. Some people believe they have bad days when they are stuck in traffic for two minutes longer than normal. Some people believe they have unlucky days when they have to work one hour longer than normal or if they have to do some idiotic chore. But some people would consider this lucky, because even though these people where doing something they preferred not doing, at least they had a sense of what they where doing in life. At least they didn't have nightmares ever night forcing them to remember there horrible past and there own actions that they where now ashamed off. At least they weren't alone and at least they didn't feel like the world hated him.

Valon was one of these people. No longer did he have a purpose in life, for good or bad. In fact the only purpose he had ever had was being a servant puppet to the ancient lord of Atlantis. He had been used, his entire life. When he was a child, he was abandoned by his parents, for a reason he still did not know to this day. When Valon lived in the orphanage, he was constantly being adopted, not because they wished to love him, but because he was a constant income of money, and maybe even something that could be used for fun. He was an object, one that did not listen. He constantly ran away from his so-called foster home until an old nun found him of the name of Mother Mary. He had loved her like a mother until, Dartz decided to burn down the church, killing the only person that had ever cared about his well-being. Valon was blamed for the crime, and later was placed in an adult jail when he was still an ankle-biter. Dartz (who did not tell Valon that he was the cause of burning down the church) had rescued Valon from the hateful jail so Valon could be one of his three top Doom soldiers. Valon thought he was doing the right thing. At first he had joined with Doom because he wished to get out of jail, but he appreciated Doom's goals, to destroy all of the impurities in the world, the ones that had caused him pain. Later on he had found out that Doom was evil and was using him, and he was crushed, yet again, that he was used as a pawn.

Now that Doom was disbanded, Valon didn't know where to turn. He hadn't seen his comrades since then, not that they would care. Valon doubted the two would care at all about his well-being, Alister was aloof and enjoyed solitude while Raphael was pessimistic and even though he had thought of the other to as his younger brothers, he was probably back in France, enjoying the fact that he no longer had to separate Valon and Alister after a squabble. Valon guessed that Alister was back in his homeland, just like he was back in his.

Valon wasn't sure why he had decided to go back to Australia. At first he thought it was another spur-at-the-moment decisions that he was infamous for. Later on, however, he realized he had no where else to go. But was Australia really the best choice? There were too many memories, to many things Valon was hoping to forget, that was stubbornly refusing to be forgotten. But things where different, or at least Valon hoped so. Valon had plenty of money and he was no longer an ankle-biter. He was a powerful and proud seventeen year-old, and even though he was still considered young, he did more things than many people only believed in. While he was in Doom, he had become a powerful fighter. His punches where like solid iron, and his aim with a gun was unmatched. He was like a professional on his motorcycle. He had jumped out of airplanes, he had done countless tricks in countless missions and he knew that he couldn't live without it. It had cost him plenty of money, but he had brought his motorcycle over to Australia, and he proudly showed his yellow beauty off.

Now that Valon was here, he had no idea where to go. He had been here for quite a while, and he still had no idea of what he should do. Ever city he went through he thought it wasn't right for him, and then he was off. He kept telling himself that he would find the right thing to do, but it was looking like coming here to start over was a vain attempt.

Frowning, the brunette in question came to a complete stop as the light over the cross-section turned an alarming red. This was the fifth light he had been caught in, but it was nothing big. The people around him where honking unnecessarily, it wasn't going to change anything. Normally, he was a laid-back person, and normally he would be laughing at the stupidity of the impatient drivers. He doubted that any of them had to be still for over hours, something that Valon had done on countless occasions during numberless missions. He normally was an impatient person, but at events such as waiting for a red light, he didn't honk his brain off. The light turned green, playfully, the young motorcyclist paused, and listened to the loud honks of the impatient drivers as he inspected his wheels. Smirking, the Australian started off without warning, causing the drivers to stop in mid-honk as they flared off after him.

This city was like the rest, impatient people doing the same thing they did yesterday. There life's where like cycle's, predictable, his life was as unpredictable as one life's could get. It wasn't long until he got to the next light, and it like all the ones before him was red. Stopping, the brunette drummed his hands on the handle-bar and looked around carelessly at the predictable scenery. It was like all the other cities. Didn't the citizens want to be different from all the other cities in the country? No, they where all the same and even though the citizens didn't see it, predictable; there where only a few people who where in category of unpredictable, and Valon was one off them. Sighing as the light turned green, Valon took a look at his watch and decided it was time to pick out a hotel. Valon had been in all types off inns, rich inns, sleazy inns, and normal-people inns. Life on the road did that to people. Deciding to stay at a common, but ok inn, the motorcyclist parked his bike, and headed off into the inn with his red duffel bag thrown over his shoulder.

It was obvious that the people waiting in the common room thought he was going to do something dangerous. His appearance screamed punk. His hair was spiked in all directions and his long bangs framed his handsome face. His bike goggles where perched on his head, and his helmet was in his hand, proving that the teen was a biker; his clothes where unusual, with his tall boots and soldier pads. The boy just stared back, a smirk on his face. He raised his hand and saw them flinch, they where probably thinking he was going to give out of rude gesture such as the finger. Instead, the brunette blew them a kiss and headed off to his room that was on the second floor.

"Decisions, decisions, decisions," the teen muttered in a noticeable accent as he scratched his head thoughtfully. Although he was infamous for spur-on-the-moment decisions, he was sometimes thoughtful about stuff, usually the less important stuff. One would think that you would plan out where you planned to spend the rest of your life; instead the brunette had bought a ticket the second he thought of moving back to Australia. However, when it came to room service, the brunette was being a bit more thoughtful.

"Pizza, or a hamburger?" the brunette muttered as he finally decided to purchase a small pizza and a coke. After trying and failing to eat the entire pizza, the brunette fell into a not-so-peaceful slumber.

"Leave… leave me alone," the teen muttered as he rolled around in his bed before painfully whacking his head on a nearby table. Sitting up with a gasp, the brown-haired teen noticed with dissatisfaction that he had yet another nightmare, and that he had only managed to get an hour or so of sleep. Valon thought of himself lucky when it came to nightmares, Alister, the aloof redhead had one almost ever night during there stay at Doom, and no matter what Valon or Raphael did, the too-secretive-for-his-own-good teenager always kept his mouth shut about his problem.

"Stupid redhead," the Australian muttered, and it took him a moment or two to realize that he was worrying about the older teenager.

"I haven't seen him in a while," Valon muttered thoughtfully, "Why do I care?" It took the brunette an even longer amount of time to realize that he thought of the redhead, as well as Raphael, as his only friends.

"Friendship didn't get me anywhere," Valon muttered, louder this time. The last time he had cared about someone, she had been killed and he was blamed for the crime. And besides, he hadn't seen the redhead or the blonde till Doom disbanded, and if Valon ever found them again, he betted that Alister would laugh when he told him that he thought of him as a friend. Closing his head from further thought, the brunette grabbed his duffel bag and headed out the door, mine as well get back on the road.

After the motorcyclist grabbed some coffee to get his energy level up, he headed back onto the road with hopes that he would find his mysterious destination that day. Nobody was on the road, but that was good in the boy's opinion. No longer did he have to hear the complaints of drivers who unfortunately got stuck in a few red lights, nor did he have to avoid car crashes because there weren't any around. In fact, the Australian was in a good mood, and the coffee's adrenaline was starting to pump through the teenager's system. After noticing a sign that pointed to an arena where bikers could do tricks, the brunette decided to stop for a while and have some fun, it wasn't like the teenager had anything planned for the day, and besides, it was nighttime.

The arena wasn't like the one Valon had commonly gone to while he worked in Doom; this one was in poorer shape. Pausing to look around, Valon pulled of his helmet, revealing his plateau of brown hair.

"I thought I would find you here," a familiar voice said a short distance away from Valon. The brunette turned his head, and gasped when he saw the figure that had spoken, it was Alister! The older boy was dressed in his normal attire; a black trench coat with a multiple amount of belts pointed in unpredictable directions, a grey tank top that was a bit on the short side and showed off Alister's skinny, leaned-muscled chest, and knee-length boots. His hair was still blood-red and his long bangs, where hiding his face.

"Why didn't you respond when Raphael called you?" the redhead continued as he raised his head and revealed his infamous sunglasses that Valon had never seen him without.

"I never got it," Valon said confused as he noticed that the arena now seemed like an exact replica to the one Valon had often went to.

Alister raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you check it before he went out?"

"No?" Valon said even more confused, Alister wasn't acting like Valon thought he would, he was acting as though they where still in Doom!

"Well, come on," Alister said as he jumped onto his motorcycle, which was red, "I contacted Raphael; we're going to meet him on Cherry road. Master Dartz just gave us a new mission,"

"What?" Valon yelled out, they weren't working for Dartz any longer. The redhead didn't answer; he just disappeared in thin air.

"Shoot," Valon muttered as he realized what was going on, "I'm hallucinating," Angry and confused, the brunette headed back to where his yellow motorcycle was parked. He had no clue why he was imagining that he was still in Doom. The boy did not want to go back there, where he had hurt so many people, even though he didn't mean to. It took a minute or so to realize why he was hallucinating, he wanted to see Alister and Raphael again.

"They're in the past," Valon muttered, "You'll never see them again,"

"Talking to yourself, eh?" a voice called out, sniggering. Valon knew he wasn't hallucinating, he didn't recognize the voice.

"Who cares if I am?" the brunette retorted with a sneer.

"Spunky," another voice said, as a group of people sniggered, Valon knew he was surrounded.

"What do you want?" Valon said, as he ignored there sniggers.

"This is our turf," a third said, "Get out,"

"I was on my way out," Valon said, "I wouldn't stay here if you dare me,"

"It's not going to be that easy," a fourth said as he jumped forward and aimed a punch at the teenager. Valon knew he was going to do that, he dodge nimbly and kicked the attacker in the stomach, causing him to kneel down in pain. The gang came into view as they saw there comrade go down.

"Tough kid," one of them said as they saw there opponent's youthful face; his opponents where all in there early forties or late thirties, and where taller and more muscular than Raphael. Valon grimaced; this fight was going to be far from fair. He knew that his opponents where older, stronger, and bigger, but he was the better fighter and faster than they where.

"Take it on," he whispered as the closest lunged at him. Valon began to dodge then strike and then dodge again. He wasn't going to get out of this fight unscratched, but he wasn't going to give up. When Valon fought, it was all action. He went down several times, and his opponents would strike him until he somehow managed to get up. He knew that there would be a time that he would go down, and be unable to get back. Grimacing at the thought, he punched one of his foes, dodged a punch, but was unsuccessful at dodging a kick to the ribs.

"That's not fighting fair is it?" a voice said. The gang paused for a second, Valon looked up from the ground, the gang didn't recognize the voice, perhaps it was help. Valon thought he knew it, but it wasn't until he heard a second voice that his guess was confirmed.

"I don't think they know how to fight fair," the second said, a sneer could be heard in his voice.

"Raphael," Valon whispered, "Alister," Before the gang could get over there surprise, a big figure lunged into the fight. A second or so later, a smaller one jumped out, knocking a figure three times his size to the ground.

"Get up Valon," Alister said as he leaned over the younger boy, "I thought you liked fights," Growling at the redhead, Valon sat up and joined the fight. The fight was still fair from fair, the former Doom soldiers where still outnumbered, but they where better fighters than the gang. Raphael was strong, and could beat them with his strength, even though they where bigger than he was. Alister wasn't nearly as strong as Raphael or Valon, but he was three times faster. Almost impossible to punch, Alister weaved throughout there opponents, knocking people down when he arrived out of nowhere. It wasn't long until the gang gave up and ran off.

"Well, that was a waste of my time," Alister said as he combed through his red locks.

"I could have beaten them myself," Valon protested, getting a smirk from Raphael and a raised eyebrow from Alister, "But your help was appreciated,"

"Who where they?" Raphael asked after Valon told his little white lie.

"No idea," Valon said as he cocked his head, "They said this was there turf,"

"I saw a sign on the way in advertising this place," Alister said, "No gang would want this to be there turf,"

"They where stupid," Valon said with a smirk, "But what are you guys doing here?"

"It was Raphael," Alister said as he rolled his eyes and pointed towards the muscular blonde.

"We'll tell you later," Raphael promised as the three hopped onto there motorcycles and sped out of the arena.

"So, what have you been doing?" the brunette said through a mouthful of cheese pizza. Valon appetite was refreshed, and now the teen was chomping through his third slice. The three had rented a room in a pretty good hotel with two beds and a couch. There was going to be an argument late about who go the beds, but at the moment, Valon didn't really care.

"Well," Raphael said, "I had nowhere to go, and I knew you guys had nowhere to go, so after I went to France, I decided to see what you guys where doing,"

"You went after Alister first," Valon continued for him as he reached for a fourth slice.

"It was closer," Raphael agreed, "And he really wasn't expecting me,"

"I wasn't either," Valon said, "You surprised me when you jumped out of nowhere, how did you know I was there?"

"Educated guess," Alister smirked, "You're always at an arena, so we checked it out," Valon glared at the redhead who was still on his first slice.

"So anyway," Raphael said, "When I got there, I didn't now where to go, so I was just riding around, asking people if they've seen Alister,"

"_Stupid construction," Raphael muttered, but he knew why the roads where so busy, there was a war there that ended only a few years ago, and Alister had seen it all. _

"_Maybe he's not here," Raphael muttered again as he looked around at the vague scenery. He had gone to France because that was where he was born, but it didn't have bad memories like this place had to Alister, Raphael had suffered at sea, and then later on that island, so there was no problem with France. It was probably different to Alister. But then again, he didn't know where else to look, so he just had to hope that the redhead decided to come home. _

_The place was pretty much empty, or it seemed that way. Nobody but the construction workers where outside, there where no children playing catch in the road and there were no parents coming home from work. It wasn't the happiest of places. _

_The construction workers did not like being stopped from working, but Raphael didn't really care. After getting a "Never seen him before," again and again, Raphael was frustrated, but not about to give up. There where a few more cities to visit, and then if he couldn't find the redhead, he would head of to Australia to find Valon and perhaps come back later for another attempt. _

_The next city the Blond biker visited was just like the others, dark, dreary and at first glance, vague of life. _

"_I've seen him," one of the construction workers said as he leaned on his power tool, "The kid was riding around on a motorcycle like yours, but it was red," _

"_Where did he go," Raphael said, anxious at thought. This was the first lead he had gotten about Alister's whereabouts._

"_At the motel," the man said as he brought out a cigarette and took a long breath, "Why are you looking for him?" the man never got his answer, the blond had already adjusted his helmet, and he was off in a cloud of dust. _

_Raphael knew what the man meant by hotel. Not that many people where visiting a country that had just gotten out of a war, the people that stayed in the hotels where citizens whose houses where destroyed by the tanks. Every city had one hotel that was up and running, Raphael had learned this a few days ago, so it didn't take him long to find the hotel that the construction worker was talking about. _

"_Oh, you mean Alister," the women at the counter said, "He's in room 207," Raphael was starting to wonder how the women knew where Alister's room was without looking it up, but deciding that it would be rude, he just nodded and headed up the stairs to the early 200's. _

"_204, 205, 206, 207," Raphael muttered to himself as he reached Alister's room. It was like all the others in the vast hotel, brown with a gold plate stating the room number. He knocked, hesitantly at first, and then louder after getting no response. Frowning bitterly, the blonde found out that the door was unlocked, and after a mental argument, he decided Alister wouldn't mind that much if he went in. The room had only one bed, but it wasn't like Alister needed more than one bed. The sheets on the bed where rumpled beyond belief, and it gave of a feeling that its owner had not slept very well. Alister's duffel bag which held all of the redhead's belongings was on the dresser, and his trench coat that Alister never went without was hanging of a chair. Placing his own purple trench coat next to Alister's black one, Raphael looked around. _

"_You're in the wrong room," an all-too familiar voice said, causing the blonde to jump. Raphael turned around, facing the direction where the voice had come from, it sounded like Alister. A door creaked open, Raphael guessed it was the door to the bathroom, and a head popped out. Raphael recognized it, it was Alister's. _

"_Raphael?" Alister said, almost yelling, "What are you doing here!" there was a loud clang; and Raphael guessed that the redhead had dropped whatever he was holding in surprise. Alister wasn't looking so good, and Raphael could only see about half of Alister's skinny frame. His flame-red hair was messy, and was sticking up unpredictable directions, different from Alister's usual style. His eyes where circled in black and his skin was paler than usual. _

"_You're not looking so good," Raphael remarked. _

"_I'm fine," Alister said in his normal "I'm not telling you anything so leave me alone" tone as he emphasized the fine part._

"_You look sick," Raphael remarked, causing Alister to roll his eyes in annoyance, "And what are you doing with that knife?" _

"_What?" Alister asked, blinking. In less than one motion, he used his foot to push the knife back into the bathroom. _

"_Your cutting," Raphael said using the same tone, he had guessed something was up when he saw Alister hiding behind the door, but seeing the bloody knife at the teen's feet proved his suspicions._

"_I am not!" Alister said, unable to hide the emotions flooding through his voice. _

'_Then prove it!" Raphael yelled and when Alister didn't respond, "You're hurting yourself Alister!" There was a pause and then, "Maybe I am… But it's no concern of yours… what are you even doing here anyway!"_

"_I just stopped by to see how you're doing, and it's not looking so good!" Raphael said, inching towards the redhead who was inching into the bathroom. _

"_I'm fine!" Alister said angrily, emphasizing the fine part, he knew he should have locked the door! _

_Raphael suddenly lunged towards redhead, "No, you're not fine!" he said as he grabbed Alister's wrist, "Does this look fine to you?" Mentally, the blonde was shocked. The redhead's limb was horribly stained with blood, if he had cut any farther, it would have been suicidal. The biker pulled his arm out of the blonde's tough grip surprising Raphael; he had forgotten how fast Alister could move. _

"_Ok, maybe I'm not 'fine'," Alister said angrily as he washed the blood off of his arm, "But it still isn't a concern of yours!" he pulled on his long fingerless gloves, hoping Raphael did not spot the scars on his arms from previous cutting sessions, unfortunately for him, Raphael spotted it. _

"_It is a concern of mine," Raphael said quietly, "And Valon's if he was here," _

"_This is the first time I have seen you since Doom disbanded!" Alister retorted, "And I haven't seen Valon since then either, he's probably somewhere in Australia tanning!" _

"_It doesn't matter!" Raphael said, "We've known you for years and we survived Doom together. I know you have grown just a little bit attached to us,"_

"_I don't care about anybody," Alister said angrily, pain on his face, "Everyone I have ever cared about was taken away from me!"_

"_You're lying to yourself," Raphael said watching the teen as he pulled on his trench coat, "It's time we stuck together again,"_

_Alister just stared at him, "And what do you have in mind?" _

"_I'm going to Australia to get Valon," Raphael said, "And you're coming with me so I know for certain that you don't start cutting again," _

"Crickey," Valon whispered, aghast. The last thing he had ever expected Raphael to say was that Alister was cutter. But then again, Alister was an enigma; he was hurting himself when he hid his feelings like that.

"What were you thinking when you did?" Valon half-yelled at the skinny redhead who had taken a sudden interest in the color of his boots.

"I have already been asked that by Raphael!" Alister retorted suddenly, "I don't need to here it from you!"

"Well I think you do!" Valon said, "Or you wouldn't have started it in the first place!"

"I've been doing it for years, I've never had any problems," Alister said as he looked over his sunglasses at the aghast brunette.

"That makes it worse!" Raphael said suddenly, that bit of news was obviously new.

"Look, I'm fine!" Alister said as he stared at the other two bikers, "Just leave me alone,"

"Look what happened when we did leave you alone," Valon said as he stared intently at the redhead, "Why where you even cutting in the first place?"

"You'd never understand," Alister retorted as he glared at the brunette over his sunglasses. Valon just crossed his arms, "Try me,"

To anyone else, it would seem like the redhead had gained a sudden interest in the well-being of his fingernails, but the two knew that Alister desperately did not want to answer the question.

"Well?" Valon probed; gaining a glare from the redhead who had lost the interest he had with his nails, and was know fingering his hair and looking at something only he knew.

"I was having nightmares," Alister began. Valon knew this was true, in fact early that day he was thinking how lucky he was to not have as many nightmares as the older boy did.

"I kept seeing scenes in the war over and over and over again," the redhead continued, "Even though I partly blamed Gozaburo Kaiba, I mostly blamed myself. There where times I tried suicide, but then I would suddenly black out and get visions about my brother telling me not to give up, so I never went through with suicide. Cutting made me feel better, and even for that small amount of time, I was free from my memories, but they always came back, and I started to cut more and more often. After Doom was disbanded, the memories where worst and I started to receive different ones of all the bad things I did while I was in Doom. Then, then I realized something worst, do you know who was responsible for the war that tortured my country? Gozaburo was thought to be behind it, but it was really Dartz and the only reason why he started the war was to get to me. I felt worse behind comparison when I realized that. I had always felt responsible for what happened to Mikey, and after Doom was disbanded, for everyone that was hurt in Doom, even though they all turned out ok. But after I realize that, it was completely awful, and my cutting became a lot worse,"

"Crickey," Valon whispered, his arms no longer crossed. He had never thought about that before, in fact, he didn't even know if anyone else was hurt in the fire that claimed Mother Mary, the only mother figure that was ever in the Australian's life. Raphael was just as quiet, and the other two knew he was thinking about the other people that had been killed in the boat that had claimed his family and caused him to be alone for three years on a deserted island. Both of them had never thought of it before, but out of them all Alister was the smartest and he pondered the most, it wasn't a surprise that he had realized that.

"I never thought about that," Raphael whispered.

"You know Alister," Valon said as he snapped out of his trance about the fire, "There's nothing you can do about that. For some reason he chose you to be one of his top soldier's and there wasn't anything you can do about it," There was silence, Alister was obviously thinking, "And you know, Dartz might be gone and all, but he's winning if your thinking about what he caused in Doom, just don't let him win,"

"I never thought about that," Alister said suddenly, "I suppose I am letting Dartz win… and he most certainly can't win after what he has done,"

There was another pause and the other two suddenly new that Alister wouldn't cut again if it meant that Dartz was winning. The three of them hated that cruel-hearted man, and they didn't want to do anything that would make Dartz happy, even if he was gone forever.

"And you know," Alister said suddenly, "Thanks," and then he smiled, or it might have been a smirk, but either or, the other two bikers knew that he wasn't going to give out another in a while. It felt good to be back where they belonged.

**Hey People! Thank you for reading my short story, please review!**


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